Vehdna
Vehdna is the name of one of the three major religious/racial/cultural groups of the massive city of Taglios and its surrounding regions. The other two are Gunni and Shadar. The Vehdna are strictly monotheistic and consider the Shadar to be a heretical offshoot. Though the Vehdna are the least numerous when compared to the Gunni and Shadar, they still dramatically outnumber tiny minorities like the Nyueng Bao and the Stranglers. The leader of the Black Company during the Kiaulune wars (and later their official captain), Sleepy, was Vehdna, and her religious convictions and struggles permeate her Annals in Water Sleeps. The Vehdna are a fairly monolithic group when compared to the Gunni, who have innumerable cults. But an exception among the Vehdna are the veyedeen dervishes, members of a group of splinter sects who choose a lifestyle and wardrobe that differs from mainstream Vehdna. Characteristics and doctrine *'Afterlife' – Vehdna believe in paradise, but it is for men almost exclusively. Women are not admitted and are explicitly stated in Vehdna doctrine to be soulless, with the rarest exceptions. Some Vehdna believe in al-Shiel, a place where wicked souls will burn for all eternity. Vehdna do not believe in reincarnation, as the Gunni do. ** The Vehdna paradise is described pejoratively by Lady in Dreams of Steel as "infested with eager virgins of both sexes". ** Croaker specifies in Soldiers Live that the Vehdna and Shadar paradises both have "rivers of wine and acres of eager virgins for the man who falls in battle ... though originally that only meant warriors who perished in the name of God". *'Deity' – Vehdna are strictly monotheistic, unlike both Shadar and Gunni. *'Diet' – Vehdna cannot eat pork, but other meats are unrestricted. They will purchase sheep for meat from Gunni farmers. The Gunni are vegetarians and consider these animals, along with cattle, to be sacred... they have no qualms selling them to the Vehdna for eventual consumption. *'Disposal of the dead' – Vehdna bury their dead, unlike the Gunni, who incinerate their dead on ghats (pyres). *'Dress' – Most Vehdna wear kaftans and glamorous turbans, whereas, Gunni wear robes colored depending upon sect, and the Shadar wear white, simple shirts and pantaloons. A group of Vehdna sects, called the veyedeen dervishes, wore stifling hot, all-covering brown robes. *'Ghosts' – Vehdna, like the Nyueng Bao, believe in ghosts. The Gunni do not. Vehdna ghosts are "are wicked spirits cursed to wander earth by God Himself", whereas, a Nyueng Bao ghost is a "restless spirit that wants to finish tasks interrupted by death" but cannot do so. *'Hair' – in Dreams of Steel, Lady records in her Annals that Vehdna and Shadar tended toward curly hair, whereas Gunni presumably had more commonly straight hair. She also noted that Vehdna men wore their hair short whereas some Gunni men let their hair grow long. *'Idols' – Vehdna are forbidden to have any idols at all, unlike the Shadar who have one god of sufficient magnitude to warrant an idol, and the Gunni who worship a considerable pantheon of deities and have a wide variety of idols and images in their temples. *'Population' – Vedhna are the smallest of the three major religions (Gunni being the most populous). They still dramatically outnumber tiny minorities like the Nyueng Bao and the Stranglers. *'Seating' – Vehdna favor sitting on the floor or on a cushion, cross-legged. This is in contrast to the Shadar, who use low chairs or stools, and, both the Gunni and Nyueng Bao, whose fashion is to squat down on one's heels. *'Travel' - Vehdna had a tradition of being excellent horsemen and were widely respected riders. They formed dangerous cavalry units serving the Great General Mogaba. Category:Religions *